Pen and Ink Landscape and other

I started this over Christmas vacation but then sort of dropped it, no particular reason just didn't feel like working on it. It is from a reference photo I made a couple of years ago in a local State Park. I don't recall the tree species. I just liked the line of it with the fence, open field behind and then the line of trees in the distance. Time of year was October, so the tree has lost some of its leaves. Haven't decided if I like this or not. I think it works but might have been better on white paper. Course I can always do a re-make.

This is done on Strathmore toned grey paper with my technical pens, the 3x0 as I recall, size is 4 x 6 inches.

More play with my technical pens, got to keep that ink flowing. I start with a basic shape and then work from there as I feel like it, the squares were the start of this piece.

This was drawn for another of the WetCanvas Scanvenger Hunts. I mostly used the F lead in one of my clutch pencil holders but added some 2B. This is one of my Grandmothers china cups, Lemoges, and purchased in Canada while they were on their Honeymoon over 100 years ago. Is there such a thing as Antique China? The squiggle around the rim is a gold pattern. Done in my dedicated sketchbook it is a fairly small drawing, about 4 inches.

I spent yesterday in Boston at the Museum of Science visiting their special exhibit on the Inca's. The above is a photograph of one of the statues on exhibit and is of one of their kings. These statues contain images that have to do with the Kings right to rule, claiming linkage and ancestry to past kings and to the Gods. I found the exhibit well put together, with short video clips, informative blurbs, and covering a wide range of Inca culture, from ball games to war, it was worth my time if not my money.

I wasn't happy about the price I had to pay to see this, and since I don't have kids or grandkids membership in the museum isn't worth it to me. It has been years since I visited the museum and it will probably be years before I visit again. The museums regular exhibits and activities are geared toward the under 14 age group. They might be found interesting by an adult who hasn't been exposed to some of the best Science museums such as the Smithsonian or Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, but not really to me. I know museums have to support themselves and one time visitors are one way they do that, doesn't mean I have to like though.

Upon leaving the museum I walked along the Charles River, as I wanted to make some photographs. I walked down from the museum to the Red Line stop at the end of the Longfellow Bridge. Along the way I collected 4 squirrels that obviously expected me to feed them. Unfortunately for them I didn't have any food. But it was fun to make photos of them. Since they were running along the top of a snow bank which was about waist high I had no trouble getting this in-your-face photo. That black bar to the right is the back of a bench that has been mostly covered in snow.

Again I have posted more photos from my day out to my Facebook fan page. You don't have to be a facebook member to view it.

That is it for today, per usual comments are welcome.

MFA Visit and other pen works

Lost track of time, or I would have done this update yesterday. Actually that is a lie, I wanted to include the above drawing and I didn't finish stippling in the background until last night, too late for me to have done an update.

So here is another of my pattern pieces, this one is a bit larger than the ones shown previously it is six inches square where the others were only 4 inches. It is done on Hot Press Watercolor paper so the options for coloring are wide open, I was thinking about using Inktense pencils for this instead of colored pencils, but I need to do a bit more stipple work on this before I start color. It doesn't show in the image but some stipple areas are just a bit too light and need more work.

I used a lot of ruled grid lines on this one to help with the placement and size of the various repeated motifs. Also for the stippling I went with a larger tip size than I normally use (to save time), I wanted an even background, fairly dark so didn't need to worry about gradations. Anyway I used a .3 Copic Multiliner SP pen, one of my Christmas gifts to myself. Drawn without references but of course it may remind you of something.

I know it is after Valentines day so hearts should be put away until next year, but with it still being the month of February I had hearts on the brain when I was doing a recent pen exercise (using all of my Technical pens). Anyway I ended up with this design of hearts, for the background I wanted to play with a different type of fill so using my 3x0 pen just drew the basket weave background. I then added color using some of my various mfg. red pens. This was just for fun but I kind of like it.

A fairly quick pencil drawing of the back of a plastic fork. Done on the bus heading toward Boston for one of the WetCanvas Scavenger Hunts. I thought the back of the fork was more interesting than the front what with the supports built into the mold. Done in one of my smaller sketchbooks with a mechanical pencil. I don't really like these pencils, but they are the easiest to haul around for sketching as they don't need to be sharpened, course that is what I don't like about them, I don't have a sharp point to work with for details.

The bus trip into Boston last Friday was so I could visit the MFA to see several new exhibits and to revisit one other on-going one. The new exhibit I wanted to see was the Gordon Parks photographs of friends made back in the late 1950's pre-desegregation. I feel they were worth my time, I enjoyed seeing the photographs and reading the blurbs. In some ways we have come a long way, but in others I am not sure there has been that much change in attitude towards African American's or Negro's as they were called then.

Anyway after seeing the photographs I wanted to revisit the Chinese Silk paintings. On my way I stopped to rest in the Gallery showing Pacific Island art and sketched the above wooden statute. You can't tell from this view but she is female, sitting on some small 4 legged animal and holding a human figure. The figure has hold of her tongue (super long) and is also biting the tail of the animal. She is holding one hand up to her ear. The small human has extra long and flexible arms and legs so it isn't my drawing that is out of whack but the way the sculpture was carved. Again drawn in one of my smaller sketchbooks with a mechanical pencil.

Photographs from Boston, the one above was made on Boston Common from the Boylston side looking toward the State Capitol (the golden dome a little to the right of center) and shows some of the mounds of snow that I ran into in the city. 

I made the above photograph in the MFA. Last week was a school vacation week for MA public schools and the Museum set up all sorts of activities for kids throughout the museum. This one was pretty simple, supplying kids with paper and drawing tools and letting them have at it. Sorry if the focus isn't as sharp as it could be but I can't use flash in the museum, and am not as steady as I once was. If I wanted to play in Photoshop I could probably improve this shot by removing the mothers legs at the bottom, still I rather like it the way it is, cut off head of a visitor and all.

Again I have more Boston snow photographs on my Facebook page if you are interested.

That is it for today, per usual comments are welcome and appreciated.

Another Portrait and a couple of quick dwgs

I don't have anything very elaborate to post today, I am working on a new pen and ink pattern piece but it isn't ready to show off.

Above is my second drawing for the Flickr Group Julia Kay's Portrait Party another graphite portrait. I am fairly happy with it, and more pleased by the fact that it didn't take me as long to get semi right as my first portrait did. I have a couple more photo's that I have already downloaded, just need to motivate myself and get to them.

This one was a bit of a challenge as the angle and position of his head are not usual, was fun to draw for that reason, you will have to take my word for it that it even sort of looks like the photo.

The above is just a doodle, another of my technical pen "exercise" sketches. I use each of my ink filled technical pens for at least a minute on each of these, a way to make sure the ink hasn't dried in the pens. Course right now I have 2 that aren't very happy with me and I think I will need to break down and replace the tips. Ah well cheaper to replace the tips then the whole pen, next time I am in Boston at a Dick Blicks they will be on my shopping list. With one of the tips I have damaged the wire that feeds the ink and the other is blocked, I left the pen un-used too long while the pen was filled. Course it is the 3x0 tip and all it takes is bit of debris to block those, in fact I thought I had it working and then it just stopped and now nothing I have done clears it. Some days I wish I had an ultrasonic cleaner.

Done in one of my smaller sketchbooks, and ivy plant from imagination.

I did the above for another of the WetCanvas Scavenger Hunts. Graphite in the dedicated sketchbook, it is a drawing of a small jar of Thyme leaves that I have in my kitchen cabinet. Not much else to be said about this, except glass is tricky you get highlights and shadows in odd places.

And now, time for more snow photographs. What can I say it is the dominate feature of my landscape and life right now, feet of snow, on roofs, on columns, on the ground, and covering sidewalks. Both of these photos were made Sunday after the clouds cleared from our latest blizzard, which dropped at least another foot of snow on our previous six feet (give or take). The wind can really whip the snow into some unusual shapes, taking from one spot and leaving it in others.

The photograph above is the corner of a roof and shows how the snow was blown to overhang the edge. It is lit by a sun that was starting to set.

This second photograph is one of the columns that support an old cemetery fence, I have shown photographs of the cemetery before as it is just around the corner from me. For some reason the wind left this column of snow on top of the support. Not sure how many feet tall it is, there is no way I can get close enough to it to figure it out, well maybe if I had snowshoes, but I don't, so you will just have to take my word for it, that snow is feet tall not inches. I posted the more standard type snow photographs on my Facebook page for anyone interested.

That is it for today. Per usual comments are appreciated.